Autopsy results show a mother apparently killed her two young daughters before turning the gun on herself inside the family's high-end home, police said Monday. Nina Obukhov, 34, killed her daughters...

UPDATE: Rochester man says he held girl, 3, in headlock for wetting the bed

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BRENTWOOD – A Rochester man charged with choking his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter denied striking her but acknowledged that he held her “in a headlock type hold” while carrying her to another room after she wet a bed. Kevin Lynch, 27, was ordered held at the Rockingham County jail on $25,000 cash bail following his arraignment in 10th Circuit Court, Candia District Division, Monday.He is charged with second-degree assault, an offense punishable by up to 3 ½ to 7 years in state prison.Exeter police arrested Lynch Friday night after being called to Exeter Hospital’s Emergency Department to investigate the alleged assault. A doctor who specializes in child abuse pediatrics told police that the young girl was brought to the hospital after the girl’s mother noticed “blood in her eyes, nose and a rash on her face and chest,” court documents said.Another doctor who examined the girl determined the injuries were not caused by an infection, “but that they did appear to be consistent with signs of asphyxiation,” Detective Sgt. Michael Munck said in a sworn affidavit. In an interview with police, Lynch acknowledged being “a little rough” with the child after she had wet the bed.“He said that he had held her with one arm and brought her to the bathroom to change, and had carried her back to the bedroom and then ‘threw her over to the bed’,” Munck said in the affidavit. Lynch said the bed wetting happened just after he woke up around 8 a.m. and had started his car to leave his girlfriend’s residence. During his interview with police, Lynch demonstrated how he held the girl in the headlock hold when he carried her, according to court records. “He had told her not to wet the bed again before leaving the residence,” Munck said in the affidavit. Lynch told police that the girl’s mother was asleep during the incident.

Lynch is due back in court for a probable cause hearing on March 18.

Previous story follows:

BRENTWOOD — A man from Rochester who police said choked his girlfriend’s daughter Friday is now facing a lesser charge.

Kevin J. Lynch, 27, a transient originally from Rochester, was originally charged Friday with felony first-degree assault in connection with the incident. Exeter Police Capt. Stephan Poulin said the charges were reduced to second-degree assault during Lynch’s arraignment Monday in 10th Circuit Court, Brentwood District Division.

Police begin investigating the matter after receiving a report of possible child abuse from the staff at the Exeter Hospital emergency unit Friday.

“The mother of the 3-year-old child had initially brought her in due to some visible problems with her eyes,” according to police.

During the investigation, police determined that Lynch, the mother’s boyfriend, was “a strong suspect” and he later provided details of the alleged “assault which contained periods of brief suffocation of the child,” according to police.

After his arrest, Lynch was held on $250,000 cash bail at the Rockingham County jail.- John Quinn, Union Leader Correspondent